Goin' Dutch
by tohonomike
Summary: Xander on Halloween sees the body of Willow, but not the spirit, so he goes after Ethan Rayne. We’ll see how it works out. Parts 6 and 7 now up!
1. Chapter 1

_Going Dutch (1?) _ _Author: Tohonomike __Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owners...it will start off with the Joss/ME characters, and any other characters or real-life folks are clearly not mine. NO money is involved. _

This a partial response to someone's challenge about Xander on Halloween seeing the body of Willow, but not the spirit, so he goes after Ethan Rayne. We'll see how it works out.

Harry "Dutch" Tasker had just survived the damn thing that had killed off his companions, and was suddenly here? 'Where the Hell am I?'

He pressed a button on the short spear segment, activating it as a scream pierced the night; from the looks of it a group of drunks dressed as pirates were going to harm and do worse to two young women being dragged into an alleyway.

"I don't think so," he conversationally raised his voice as he drew his service weapon, leaving the M-16 slung over the arm still holding the spear, "Move away from the girls."

"Mind ye bizness, now, mate, and we won't be a-killin' ya instead o' some wee fun." Clearly the leader of the lot.

"The only thing wee is what you have," Harry retorted, firing a round into the dirt between the lead pirate's legs, "And I have many more in here waiting for you to make trouble."

The pirates weren't sure if there was a pistol that fired more than a single shot, until he fired again. They ran.

"Thanks Xander," Cordelia hurriedly told him as she started to run off, followed by a Harmony taking in the Xander sights of bulging muscles.

"Yeah, Um, thanks, we owe you," Harmony told him, then rushed after her pack leader.

"Xander?" Harry wondered, "Must be some strange slang kids these days are using."

The Spec Ops soldier moved through the town, breaking up fights, preventing crimes from being perpetrated and breaking the necks of several murderers so sick they sucking on the necks of their victims.

"The drugs, it's got to be drugs," he murmured as an hour later he walked down the street he'd started on, reading a paper from 1997 when he noticed the body of a young woman under some bushes. Brushing her red hair from her cold face, he felt particularly moved, saddened beyond what he'd expect to. 'Must be because I miss my own little girl,' he mused, then arranging her respectfully, moved on as he heard the firing of weapons.

"Stand down soldiers!" he ordered as he reached the end of the street, "What's going on, here!"

"Hostiles attacking the locals, sir!" a short private responded, "Providing cover as they flee to safety."

"Very good, but conserve your ammo, something's not right about this town. Let's head in the direction the hostiles fled, maybe there's more to this than we know."

Twenty minutes later, and the four soldiers had rescued two more girls after beating down eight more pirates and dragging them across the street to the hospital.

"You ladies, alright?" Harry asked the girls, "Do you need medical assistance?"

"No Xander, but thanks," Amy told him, Joy nodding along as they then scurried home.

"Any of you know what a Xander is?" Harry asked his soldiers, but they too drew a blank, "Any way, let's…"

The magic cleared up and the young males looked around a minute, shrugged, and went their separate ways. Xander sat on the curb, the memories settling in as the events of the night came back to him in graphic detail. He watched as across the street the costume shop owner, looking beat up, seemed to be breaking into a car as though someone was after him.

"You!" Xander shouted, getting up and moving toward Ethan, who as he drove off looked at the boy in recognition, "You got Willow killed you son of a bitch!"

Xander chased the car, reaching the corner as it sped away. He made a decision as an idea came to him. Seeing how at the convenience store, the cop had just gone in with his coffee mug, Xander got into the squad car, broke the column, and had the car wired and chasing Ethan within sixty seconds.

"I'll make it hurt," he breathed, searching through Tasker's memories for the best way to inflict a lingering tortuous death on the killer of his Willow.


	2. Chapter 2

_Going Dutch (2?) _ _Author: Tohonomike __Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owners...it will start off with the Joss/ME characters, and any other characters or real-life folks are clearly not mine. NO money is involved. Buffy? Nope. None are mine._

Two miles he chased the man, avoiding kids but sometimes taking out an innocent garbage can in his pursuit, before Ethan lost control of his car and slid side-to-side into a parked car with two really ugly people in it. Ethan knew he only had a few seconds, and since his getaway vehicle was stalled, leapt from his car, drew out a revolver and pointed it at the driver.

"Get out Shorty," Ethan told Principal Snyder, who complied.

"Let me get my mother out…" he began as he exited, only to have the man smack him in the side of the head, knocking him to the ground.

"I need a little insurance, and the old bat will do nicely," Ethan sneered as Xander in the police car pulled up. The four-door sedan with an actual V-8 engine peeled out, but Snyder got in the way before Xander could pull away.

"Get out of the way, Snyder!"

"He has my mother! I'm going with you Harris!"

"Get in!" he shouted back and opened the door from inside. With Snyder along, he just now managed to skip a whole hell of a lot of responsibility later. He peeled out, slamming the troll to his seat.

Quickly they caught up, lights now flashing and sirens going, but after the chaotic night that had just occurred, it wasn't possible to ease around, and several times Ethan almost got away.

Falling behind twice, finally they reached the upper campgrounds for Breaker's Woods, but were still a minute behind. Some kind of fire explosion spread over the engine, causing the young man to swerve a second one and slide into a Forest Service outhouse. Xander and Snyder scrambled, Xander for the extra weapons, armor, first aid kit in the trunk. He tossed Snyder a revolver.

"Don't shoot ME, okay? You take the left, I'll take the right…"

They could see his mom still in the car, and apparently unharmed from this distance in the dark. No sign of the Chaos Mage. Xander waved Snyder closer to the car, while he himself provided coverage. Seconds passed, and Xander backed up close enough to hear the squat man trying to calm her down.

"Is she okay, Principal Snyder?"

"She has some minor cuts and a bruise…" he replied, to which Xander carefully came over and began tending to her.

"How are you ma'am? It'll be okay… did you see where the crazy man went? North? Great, that helps a lot. You'll be fine…your son will make sure you get home…he was very brave, ma'am."

Xander moved back and loaded for bear, the Principal a moment later walking over and unsure of the armed youth.

"What are you doing Harris?"

"HE hurt your mom, sir? And…Willow…" he replied, suppressing the rest, "And he's also responsible for putting all those drugs in the water that caused so much trouble tonight."

"You're going after him!"

"Yeah."

"Mmm, thanks for helping with my mother."

"It's okay sir, just tell everyone that Ethan was in the cop car and hit you, and I'm the hostage. He got me right now… and you didn't have a flashlight and couldn't leave your mom in case he doubled back."

"I can do that…"

"Then we're square, sir."

"Good luck, Harris. But don't think when you get back I'll cut you any slack."

"As long as it's a fair cop, sir, I don't mind too much. Just be fair…"

Ethan Rayne was not a happy man; four times he'd tried to actually avoid the armed maniac pursuing him by racing toward the lines of the police manhunt, only to have the lad intercept him with gunfire and stir up a response from the deputies and others. Ethan was tired, hungry, filthy, was cover with cuts and bruises, his face was scraped from a ricochet, his arse had a now-bandaged gash from a near miss.

And the kid seemed to be getting better. Ethan had the distinct idea, that the boy was herding him back to Sunnydale, and the three groups of demons Ethan had had to blast through with his magic kept him from building enough power to try taking the boy himself. It had been two days since Ethan had jumped the one deputy eating his lunch; the boy had shot up the car before the Englishman could escape, but at least the tuna sandwich had been tasty.

Xander could feel the memories resurge in him, and as he hunted Rayne, they became his skills as much as they'd been Tasker's, but a big surprise is that he was getting the memories of the guy up 'til Halloween itself. He wondered if it were two-way, but who could tell. And he still had an Englishman's bones to grind to make his bread…

Five days had passed in Sunnydale, and the massive hunt for the man who grabbed Xander after causing so much trouble worried the Scooby Gang. So much so that the shock of meeting the Harrises themselves nearly floored them at how such worthless beings could have had a hand in raising Xander. Returning to the library, they'd run into Principal Snyder.

"Any word on Harris?"

"N-No, I'm afraid not."

"Let me know when you do."

"Might I inquire as to why?"

"He saved my mother the other night; she's been asking." With that the unpleasant man left the group speechless. Billy Fordham, who'd just gotten into town and begun to hang out with the worried group wondered at such close friendship and loyalty. He turned to the redhead.

"Willow? You know the guy, does he usually jump in and save people?"

"Um…yeah, he does."

"Wow."

The next afternoon found Xander only a couple hundred feet behind Ethan Rayne; Xander had sometimes managed to slip into the police areas and grab more supplies, ammo and radios to improve his chances. Now with his quarry on home turf, he grimaced to find the mage had literally gone underground, into the sewers, at the edge of the cemetery.

"This could get interesting…" he mumbled as he dropped a flare down the hole, and ducked back as it ignited the still-high bio-gas levels down below. Xander leapt down a minute later, in what seemed to be the most likely direction…back towards the man's shop.

Xander had started out in the tunnel with twenty magazines of five slug for the police shotgun, and still had eight magazines of thirty remaining from the unchanged Halloween weapon. And of course, stakes, knives, and that weird alien spear-thing.

'I might make it out alive…'

An hour passed, and with the occasional small spell up ahead causing difficulties for the local denizens, Xander slowly caught up with the singed and desperate Ethan Rayne. Unfortunately, trouble once stirred, meant twenty minor demons and fifteen vampires met unhappy ends in the confines of the tunnels, and set off as many secondary fights between demon types in the process. After all, what kind of idiot human would survive long down here?

Finally, as he was down to three and two mags respectively, Xander noted the open manhole above, and carefully ascended the ladder to find himself near some type of club. Looking down the street, only the one place seemed like a possible hiding place.

'Screw it…' he thought to himself, 'They'll have to deal with me and my guns. He heard gunshots, screams and a scream of rage, then Ethan and a freaky woman in black come out of the club and get into a Desoto. Xander fired, taking out tires as the man turned the corner, and put quite a few holes into the car itself, but it disappeared into the night. A moment later, as he ran to the corner and looked around, he could hear a crash in the distance.

Looking back, he saw vampires start to leave the club in game face, 'No time, just one mission at a time…'


	3. Chapter 3

_Going Dutch (3?)_ _Author: Tohonomike __Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owners...it will start off with the Joss/ME characters, and any other characters or real-life folks are clearly not mine. NO money is involved. Buffy? Nope. None are mine._

With hope, he ran further down the street in the direction of the car crash, only to find the strange woman sprawled on the ground, and Ethan ducking into a building in which the alarm went off—a gun store.

'Damn,' he thought as he went to check the woman, 'Lets see if this one's vamp or human.'

Before reaching over, he noticed he had a small cut, so he wiped a little on the end of a stake, and with the shotgun near the woman's head, dropped it under her nose. A gunshot fired from the store barely missed him, but it was enough for the vampire to make its move and getaway, fleeing past the gun store instead of away. Xander fired into the store twice, and that bastard Rayne fired twice at the crazy vampires for reasons unknown, striking her a glancing wound to the forehead, and another to the thigh; perhaps he was hoping that between a vamp and the noise he'd get away.

Xander cursed, noting the vampires coming up the street; he fired off his remaining M-16 rounds just to cause leg wounds; only a single blonde vamp seemed to duck into an alley and avoid the hail of lead. Xander then turned and fired twice more into the shop, and realized the vampires must be with Spike, and called out.

"Ethan! If you think shooting that vampire chick is going to save you, think again!" Xander then fired once more, and used the moment to run past Drusilla, who swore and made claw gestures at the store. Making it to the far alley, he could hear a police response.

'Hmm, I'm going to bet you're going to risk your shop next, Brit Guy.'

Reaching the back of Ethan's store, he shook his head at hearing sounds from inside. He checked his now-meager arsenal, a total of eight shot in two magazines, plus the stuff without bullets. As soon as the sounds moved away, he kicked in the back door, dove in and rolled to the side. He could hear cursing in the front room, and fired once through an open door; a man screamed from what sounded like splinters from slug shredding wood.

Two heavy rounds, maybe .45, came through in response, then running feet. Xander dove through the door low, heard the word 'Arsum!' shouted and managed to get a shot off in the direction it came from. Another curse, as he himself just avoided a major singeing. The front bell rang as the door opened and another British voice could be heard.

"Alright, wankers…one of you hurt me, Dru, so both of you die."

"Arsum!" and a shot gun blast, two .45 ACP rounds, and another shotgun blast struck William the Bloody's entry, and his screams of pain and rage could be easily heard.

Xander fired where he thought Rayne would be, but took out the window, the bell chimed, and rolling in front of the counter he found neither Spike nor Ethan. But he did find the .45 ACP and five rounds left in it. Pocketing it, he scooted out the front door.

The trail was almost impossible to miss; a couple drops of blood here and there meant that Spike could track Ethan, and the blood from Spike's wounds meant Xander followed him. Nearly an hour later, two fire spells, much swearing and six revolver shots, found the mage near an apartment complex. Spike was much diminished, but more determined than ever, having to stop and kill would-be supplanters. Offing him in his weakened state would still give status to other vamps.

Quickly, Spike raced up to where Ethan was heading, trying to stop him before a mere lack of invitation would stop him. Xander recognized the door and smiled as Ethan pounded on the door of the basement apartment. Spike lined up nicely as the door opened. Ethan threw himself in, Xander fired at a downward angle, taking Spike through the middle spine, the slug continuing through and piercing Angel's thigh and cracking the femur.

Spike howled as he dropped, and Xander raced down, prepared to off him when the voice of the crazy vampires shrieked nearby. Turning, he fired his last shot slug, striking her, too, shattering her left shoulder and knocking her back. A minion with glasses moved to her as Xander raced down and through Angel's door, .45 in one hand and alien spear in the other.

"Sorry Dead Boy, no time to talk…" he called, leaving a confused and swearing Angel behind.

He found the back window, and raced back out to find two minions grab Spike, another was going to off Angel until three rounds in the face and throat dusted him and spooked the others. They didn't know he only had one round left.

"Hit the road bloodsuckers…I'm not in the mood."

They looked at him, grabbed Spike tighter, and ran. A moment later he helped the vampire that'd won Buffy's affections, back into the apartment.

"Good thing they didn't call my bluff; I only had one round left. I could've gotten major fed up if they'd charged. I'd've gotten them, but…"

Angel, wincing, pointed at the fridge, so Xander sighed and grabbed the vamp all four packs.

"Here, heal up."

"So he didn't grab you did he?"

"No, I've been hunting the bastard for what he did to Willow and others…"

"What? Willow's fine, Xander…"

"I saw her body…"

"She dressed as a ghost, and when the spell was over, she was okay again."

"Crap…you mean this has all been for nothing?"

"If it means anything to you, you've probably gotten yourself a nasty rep tonight…"

"Why?"

"You shot up the three remaining master vampires known as the 'Scourge of Europe' and left them to recover." Angel stared at the young man; most of the boy seemed gone, but enough there to recognize it was still Xander.

"Okay…sorry about the leg…got any clothes? I suppose I should go tell everyone I escaped from the evil Ethan Rayne…who'd snuck back, tied me up and is now running around Sunnydale…"

"Yeah, I probably have something…check the closet…and only use the clothes on the right…the others are my favorite."

Xander came back a few minutes later, and rubbed his hands. Angel looked at him.

"That'll make the tying up story believable, but how did you get them?"

"I tied guns and stuff to my wrists and as arm slings to make it easier to recover the weapons and such."

"Okay. I want the clothes…and the duster…back."

"Okay, don't worry. I'm not ready to become one of the leather guys."

Xander stood, "Sorry about shooting your leg. I'll see ya around…Dead Boy."

"Dressed like that, just get me the clothes up, Live Boy."


	4. Chapter 4

_Going Dutch (4?)_ _Author: Tohonomike __Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owners...it will start off with the Joss/ME characters, and any other characters or real-life folks are clearly not mine. NO money is involved. Buffy? Nope. None are mine._

**November 6th, 1997 – SHS Library**

The police left a few minutes before, leaving only a well-dressed couple in their late forties, and of course, Giles, Buffy and Willow. The man looked around the place, and then at Xander.

"Do you know who I am?" the man asked with a faint Austrian accent but no real visible emotion, "Who we are?"

In Russian Xander surprised his friends, who couldn't understand him, "Yeah, I do. But after that…thing…in the jungle, it's not as clear. Though I think my dancing's probably improved."

"You don't know what I do now?" the man returned in French.

"Only vaguely," Xander commented in Portuguese, "Though I'm going to guess this is your wife or partner?"

"Yes," Harry responded in Farsi, "But I need to know if you're a security risk."

"Do you remember what I've been doing this past eight months?" Xander smiled after replying in German. Harry nodded. "Then we can keep each others' secrets."

In English, Harry nodded, "You did pretty well out there hunting the bastard. Did you get him?"

"No, a score of hostiles got in the way. Only five escaped."

"You need anything before we report?"

"Training recommendations, maybe a contact number if things go south around here. Emancipation."

"That your price?"

"No, it isn't about price; it's a matter of being able to keep doing what I've been doing, but better."

"In that case, we'll see what we can do."

And with that the Taskers left, Snyder passing them as he scurried in.

"Harris."

"Sir."

"Get him?"

"Hurt him. But a bunch of PCP types got in the way."

"Too bad."

"How's your mother, sir?"

"She's fine. Asked about you. Told me to thank you."

"Tell her you did. Tell her she's welcome."

"Good night, Harris."

"Good night, sir."

The Scoobies were floored more by the almost emotionless interaction between Principal and Harris, than the rest of the last week. Xander noticed and smiled.

"Ethan rammed Snyder's car and kidnapped his mother. I made sure she was released."

"Oh."

**Tuesday, October 13th, 1998 – The Bronze**

"So Xander's meeting us here?" Willow asked Buffy as they each leaned into their boyfriends, Oz and Angel. The males stoically accepted it as their due.

"Yeah Wills, Giles said when he called that Xander'd swing by here when he got back into town."

"Good, it's just that he's been gone almost as long as Angel—right after the Judge thing."

"Yeah, and I for one am glad that in the space of a week he and Angel are back where they belong."

Angel smiled slightly; having expected someone her own age to step in when he'd left with the arm and Xander with the head, it was nice to return and be welcomed.

"Yeah," Oz agreed, remembering how a call from Xander to help him move kept him from getting bit while Jody was still in human rather than werewolf form kept him from becoming one.

Faith had managed to get her Watcher out of Kakistos' hands before he'd gotten far, but the woman kept fading in and out as they'd driven, hitchhiked, rode in a train car full of automobiles, and eventually bus. They'd done a number on the New England vampires, not just Boston; she'd on a lark ditched her old digs and took a chance sneaking onto the train to New York back in February. She wasn't going to go through with it, but she'd suddenly felt like she could do it. It surprised her, but it made scrounging easier.

Eventually, after a couple weeks of bad dreams, an English woman had shown up and explained things to her, that she had a purpose. Faith liked that a lot, having meaning to her life again. And so she'd taken training seriously, wouldn't let up, and had cut a deep swathe through the vampires until Kakistos had had enough. And the gal helping her was an honest to goodness Lady and all. But her mentor told her to avoid a group known as the Watcher's Council—except Rupert Giles in Sunnydale in the event something happened. And Lara had luckily been saved before the Greek Freak had had time to really get started beyond a simple beating.

Lara was feeling much better, and was currently looking like she was going to make it, but had asked Faith to stop so she could use to lavatory, and so they were now pulling up to a club that seemed to have once been a warehouse. Lara went in as Faith waited across the street in the car.

Xander had finally given in to a temptation and bought himself a sweet old Harley when he was in LA two days before; he'd always thought one might be fun, but after eight months of Omega training as their 'tripwire' on the Hellmouth, he'd picked up Harry's tastes for things dangerous and on the edge that reinforced his own. The two Taskers, or Boris and Doris as he also knew them, had warmed up to the young man, with the oddity developing that as the two were in proximity, they had an empathic-instinctual link like the Xander-Willow one, or the Harry-Helen one. And their knowledge and experiences, the memories, seemed to update. The boss had been worried at first, until the comfortable almost-familial bond the three developed led him to code the boy as Horus—finding out about the Hyena (canine) possession precluded a Morris the Cat codename.

And with 'Harry Junior' on the Hellmouth, with the cover of college student and high school librarian's intern with an insurance settlement from the cover company, Omega felt itself more secure in the area of weird supernatural nuisances.

Xander's college for the semester was being covered through a retired agent in the admin office that would be finished translating Harry Tasker's education and skills into years of tests, correspondence courses and summer internships. This semester left him with a placement at the high school full-time this semester, but only twenty hours weekly thereafter.

With his 'outfit' to be delivered to the other apartment in Giles' duplex tomorrow, the young agent was wondering how the Watcher would react to his new neighbor, and pulled up near the Bronze. He noted a half-dozen possible vampires giving the bouncer and a couple of teenage girls at the door a hard time. Xander shook his head.

Faith watched the guys across the street, then the hot guy on the bike pull up and give the guys a careful eye. The young man couldn't have been more than a year older than her, but carried himself in almost as predatory a manner as the vampires Faith staked on a regular basis. He wore a pricey trench coat instead of a duster, and the threads he wore were also quality, and from her vantage point, she watched as street-side on his bike he drew out from an almost unnoticeable holster a very big and dark firearm.

"Hey guys! Wait for me!" he called out, briefly confusing everyone that saw him, the bouncer getting nervous at yet another possible threat. She watched as the man kept the gun just out of sight until the thugs smirked at him. She couldn't hear what was said, but watched as on grabbed the girls, one hit the bouncer and three swaggered toward the new guy, all of the aggressors in vampire 'game' face. Faith began getting out of the car, but passed him and down the alley see thought she saw Lara being pushed out the side door by a couple guys. Stakes in both hands, she began moving quickly.

The guy with the bike suddenly took up a position like one she'd seen her father take long ago on the shooting range, and proceed to fire seven rounds in about the six seconds it took her to cross the street.

The first three shots from the .50 AE eliminated femurs on the three swaggerers, taking them to the ground at a range then of ten feet, another round tore through the leader's right arm, and did serious internal damage before exiting via the stomach, the fifth and sixth tore into the shoulder blades of the vamp that decked the bouncer, and the seventh went into one of the first vamps that seemed to be going for an actual weapon. The round tore up through the groin and rearranged some insides, taking the fight out of the vamp almost immediately.

The young man at once, ejected the spent magazine, leapt toward the door and turned it into a roll as he successfully but not too neatly reloaded his weapon. Faith continued to run by and into the alley, leaving the youth to take in the situation.

The vampire holding the girls immediately put them in front to keep from being torn up by bullets, three were screaming on the ground and the very large vamp that had taken two shoulder-blade-shattering rounds was actually turning to face Xander (five feet away) as the girls shrieked and the bouncer, groggy, slammed a heel into the back of the giant vamp's knee to distract it.

Xander was definitely put off by the big vamp, and learned the valuable lesson that unless lucky like he'd been, more firepower from longer range might be a better plan. He fired four rounds into the chest of the big vamp, finally dusting the heart through sheer trauma, then finished off the leader with a head shot.

"Okay, ugly, let the girls go, and I'll let you go."

"What about those two?" the undamaged vampire asked, indicating the two slowly recovering vamps still on the ground.

"I have two rounds before reloading. If you run fast enough away, you'll make it. I can't very well leave two enemies behind me, can I? They might steal my bike."

The vamp dropped the girls and turned to run. Xander aimed carefully and managed a leg shot that dropped him, then walked over and capped him. He pulled out yet another magazine, reloaded, and finished the other two.

"You three okay?" he asked the bouncer and girls, who nodded numbly, "Good. You never saw me, and they were never here, right? Must have been a car back-firing."

The bouncer nodded, waving the girls in, "Sure man, and no cover for you whenever you show."

Xander stooped only to pocket his two empties before moving into the unknown alley situation to find his friends looking amazed at a dark-haired girl and a dark-haired woman, both dressed to kill, literally in this case, he mentally smirked. He walked up, and noticing the looks from his friends in his direction, the newcomers turned also, the younger smirking.

"So, stud, you dust the other six blood suckers?"

He only really had one response, "Dana?"


	5. Chapter 5

_Going Dutch (5?)_ _Author: Tohonomike __Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owners...it will start off with the Joss/ME characters, and any other characters or real-life folks are clearly not mine. NO money is involved. Buffy? Nope. None are mine._

**October 13th, 1997 – Alley next to the Bronze**

Lara saw something she'd never really seem on Faith's face before—fear and surprise. Even with Kakistos on their tail, never had that combination occurred. Lara stepped forward.

"Who are you and why are you calling her Dana?"

"I just spent the last eight months training for a sales position with her parents' friends… Boris and Doris. So I know they've been looking for her for quite a while now."

"They're dead…" Faith responded.

"No, but they were captured for a while. I don't have the details, but after five months, they were freed—though … Boris had managed to get halfway out before nearly shooting his rescuers."

"Who are you?" Faith asked from behind Lara.

"Not in front of the others, Dana. Since you seem to be a Slayer, I think we should all go to see Rupert Giles, Buffy's Watcher. That should be neutral ground, and while everyone else talks Watcher-stuff, you and I will step out of Buffy's hearing and we'll talk. Fair enough?"

Faith nodded, but Lara pressed, "Your name at least…"

"You first," he replied with a smile, now within four feet of her but holstering his weapons slowly in front of her.

"I'm Lara Croft," the woman replied, arching an eyebrow. Xander held out an empty hand to shake.

"Lady Croft, my name is Alexander Lavelle," he graciously smiled as she tentatively shook his hadn't, which he turned over and kissed the back of the hand.

The woman pulled back her hand, half amused and half threatened by the boy's knowledge of her.

"How did you know I was a Lady?"

"Other than the upper class accent? You just telling me."

Faith snickered, "Secret identity, huh Lara?"

"Hey Buff, Deadboy, Oz, Willow. Miss me?"

The girls ran forward, Oz nodded, and Angel with a slight smile said "No."

Hugs were exchanged, even as Faith pinned down that the 'Deadboy' guy seemed to come up on her senses. Lara had mentioned the vampire, so no action would be taken now, though. The fact that the people they wanted to see all pretty much welcomed the impressive young man, who by Faith's statement had offed six vampires using non-traditional means, gave the peer hope.

As they were heading out of the alley, Xander snickered, and turned to the two new gals.

"So, how'd you come into town. I can't believe the car you came in is yours."

"No," the dark-haired slayer responded with a bit of attitude, "There was a garage next to the bus station, and since Lara wasn't feeling up to the hike around town, I wired it."

"No accounting for taste."

"It was all they had, and who's going to miss it?"

"The owner," Xander smirked, "Rupert Giles."

"Bugger…" Lara sighed as the Scooby Gang laughed.

The two newbies were given directions and would follow Oz' van. Xander smirked and drove off first, and as soon as he was around the corner he made the call direct to Harry's personal cell number.

"This is Horus, is the line safe and are you still in LA?"

"This is Boris, and our flight is in fifteen minutes."

"As amazing as it is, what was once lost, was just found."

Dead silence, then a woman's voice came on, "Horus? What is it?"

"How fast can you be where I am? Really fast."

"One hour."

"I found her."

After a moment, Harry was back on the phone very quietly.

"How sure are you?"

"When I called her by name, she was going to bolt. Get here fast. I'll delay. Go to my 'place of employment' first then lodgings next. Got it?"

"We're on our way."

Xander pulled up to the library just after the others, and having taken care with his gear, made his way in, rubbing his right wrist just a bit.

"Too much hand motion, stud?" Faith smirked as she noticed him nursing the wrist. Buffy suppressed a snort, and after a second Willow's eyes went wide.

"Language…firecracker," he mock-glared, causing her to deflate again at the clear implication he knew her original identity, "You try firing that many .50 caliber rounds that fast. Even with the Slayer strength I'll bet you feel it a little."

Xander couldn't believe that the Tasker daughter was right in front of him; he knew it was her, but his mind had to different perceptions of her. One was the fourteen-year-old daughter of his friends, some one he cared for a lot even though he'd never really met her. Even before tonight, he'd probably have thought of her as a cousin or sister. The second thought—whoa! That second thought was that she was a hot Slayer that had acted well in the situation at the Bronze by heading for the alley while he had the vamp gang under control.

It was when she'd turned and he'd recognized her, and she'd confirmed by her reaction his naming of her, that the conflict arose. He had all of these memories of her, um, pre-hotness that he knew weren't his; he just hoped Harry wouldn't hit him for being attracted to her. Xander'd never do anything, but he was still a teenage guy so his thoughts weren't perfectly chaste.

Which brought up another strange and confusing thought in between the others…how to talk to her? Giles fortunately took control of the situation, introductions having just been completed when Xander had walked in.

"Lady Croft, I was unaware you were a Watcher…"

"I'm not, Mr. Giles, but when it was discovered that I was a potential, much of my free-time became devoted to training."

"Then why take it upon yourself the duties, and why keep it from the Council?"

"While my actual trainers were very good and very competent, my official contacts were Reginald Wyndham-Price and Quentin Travers."

"I see…"

"So when I'd learned that the previous Slayer had died, and I saw Faith throw a man across an alley who'd been attacking a young girl, I made a decision to help her."

"While I cannot condone your … preemption of Council prerogatives, if my only contacts were the two men you've mentioned, I can at least admit I'd have done the same. But how do you keep her cloaked from scrying?"

"She wears a ring and armband that tone her down to no more than a potential."

Faith leaned over from where she stood next to Xander, "Wanna see where I have the ring, stud?"

Xander blushed with an amused smile, shaking his head, 'I'm so dead…and it's not even my fault this time.'

He turned to the girl, "While they talk shop, can we talk away from the others?"

She held her breath, then walked over and whispered in Lara's ear as both looked at Xander. Lara spoke up.

"If you could leave the cannon, Mr. Lavelle…"

Xander nodded and began disarming in that one regard, as Giles turned and shook his head.

"Lavelle?"

"I dropped the old last name; didn't much care for them." Giles nodded, remembering how after Xander left the two 'parents' had been arrested on various charges and taken away.

"Is that Irish or French derivation?" Lara asked.

"Both, I think," Xander replied, handed Giles the weapon. "Giles, can we borrow your office?"

"Certainly Xander."

Faith sat in Giles chair, and Xander in the one nearest the door. They remained quiet for a few minutes.

"I talked to your folks."

"They really are alive?"

"Yeah, they are."

"How do you know so much about my family?"

"Your 'Watcher' explain that magic exists, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Last Halloween, I dressed up as a soldier, costume from a shop. Turned out that the owner was a Chaos mage turnin' everybody into their costumes. The fatigues I had used to belong to your father way back when."

"No shit…"

"Yeah…and watch the language, Dana. Anyway, most people quickly forgot everything, but since I spent the next week using your Dad's soldier skills to try hunting down the bastard I'd thought had killed Willow—she dressed as a ghost, ya see, and your 'father' saw her body. When I recovered, I went lookin' for payback. So I kept the abilities, and the muscles."

"Wow. That how you know they were alive?"

"No, your dad remembered a few things, and when he got a report of a manhunt in Sunnydale looking for a guy that grabbed a teenager—they didn't know the exact sitch, your folks came out. When I got into town, they were here, we talked a while. A few months later, I went back east. Spent eight months becoming a young Boris clone. Lived with your folks."

"So what now?"

"Whatcha mean?"

"You called 'em?"

"Yeah, I did. They've missed you so much…" he sighed, and she noticed a tone of pain in it.

"So stud…"

"Xander, please."

"So Xander, why, why does it seem to mean so much to you?"

"Having you reunite with your folks?" She nodded. "When I'm around your father for any real length of time, we kinda have a link, and our knowledge, um, updates. Like if I studied Latin and he studied Math, if we started hanging out and using or trying to use the skills, we'd find a lot of it was already there."

"Sounds wicked weird…"

"Yeah, but your dad now knows what I know about the vamps and stuff, and I could become a … worker in his company … when I graduate school."

"You a senior?"

"Starting with the formal college stuff soon, but I'm probably a sophomore."

"College guy…gotta get me a brain link…"

"Don't tell the others. That's … family … info."

"We kissin' cousins or something now, X?"

"Lets avoid the kissin' part until your father gives his blessing; he still out-masses and out-means me, Dana."

They joined the others about twenty minutes later, Faith grabbing a boom box and a dusty tape from a small box. In the meantime, Jenny Calendar had joined the group, and raised a curious eyebrow at the young people exiting the office.

They quietly listened as Lara continued to explain the last seven months of slaying to the group, and then briefed them on Trick and Kakistos. They'd be surprised and Willow mentor-crushing as Lara described hacking into the Watcher data files for information. Eventually, Faith looked around at the clear space Buffy often used for training, then set the music player on the edge of the table. She pointed out to the floor.

"Okay, stud, one last test to prove what you said was true. Dancing."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope."

Buffy smirked, "I don't think dancing and Xander should be spoken of in the same sentence, Faith."

Sighing, Xander got to his feet, 'Harry, couldn't you have moved faster and saved me from this?'

"Alright, and I'm guessing that there's one dance in particular?"

"Oh yeah."

He walked into the office, and found a carnation on the Watcher's desk; no roses. He came back out and said as much as she hit the play button, they took position, and the tango began.

The Sunnydalers and even Lara were rather amazed at the next minutes, as the two teenagers promptly ignored the world and proceeded to dance very well. The two displayed grace that in spite of one being a Slayer, was unbelievable nonetheless.

And only when the dance was over, did they, and the Scooby gang notice the couple from last Halloween staring intently at the young woman beaming at Xander. She turned and saw her folks.

"Mom? Dad?" And the three Taskers raced across the room as Xander smiled and shut off the player.


	6. Chapter 6

_Going Dutch (6?)_ _Author: Tohonomike __Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owners...it will start off with the Joss/ME characters, and any other characters or real-life folks are clearly not mine. NO money is involved. Buffy? Nope. None are mine._

**October 13th, 1997 – SHS Library**

The three Taskers quietly embraced, murmuring things at such a low level that not even angel or Buffy could quite make it out. It was obviously a reunion; Xander nodded with a smile and sat on the corner of the table, facing the group.

"I know her folks; they were in LA so I told 'em to get up here fast. Any other details are either classified or up to them to tell you. But they did not abandon her, and she thought they were dead."

Lady Croft stared at the trio, then back at the young man full of surprises, looks of happiness and concern warring in her eyes.

"Mr. Lavelle, just how did you come to know her parents?"

"That for now is also classified, though once things sort themselves out, I'll tell you what I feel safe telling. Just as the Council won't want to interfere with Dana's extended family. So we won't say anything about her. Giles?"

"For now, as long as it doesn't threaten us here at the Hellmouth, I don't remember encountering a second slayer."

"Thanks Giles…that makes things a lot easier for everyone." Xander turned to the group, reached into a wallet, and pulled out six gift cards, passing one each to Jenny, Giles, Willow, and Oz, then two to Buffy. "Gals, you'll note the gift cards…there's three hundred on each…might I suggest comfortable footwear that looks good. Patrolling for vamps isn't good on the shoe leather. Oz, that's to that music chain you like, and Giles, yours is to that bulk sporting good store over in Oxnard—figured the way Buffy goes through training equipment your gift should be the one that hurts your wallet the least."

"Thank you, Xander," the man beamed, having watched Buffy eliminate yet another training dummy the night before.

"And Buff, that other one's to the MegaGrocery they just set up outside of town; I figure that with a Slayer to feed, your mom could use some help with the food bill—remember to tell her I'm available for dinners."

Lara watched the young man give out easy presents with sufficient flare as to personalize them, and was surprised when Xander turned to her as she now stood next to Mr. Giles.

"If Lady Croft doesn't object, Giles could you offer her a place to stay; I have enough room at my place for the family reunion, and it's really close to where you are."

"O-of course…Lady Croft, Jenny and I," the Watcher said with a nod from the fiancée, "offer you our spare room. Xander? Are you sure you have enough room at your, um, lodgings?"

"I do, I'm told by the former owner that it's a mirror image of yours."

"Really? How would that come up in conversation?"

"I'm across the courtyard from you…neighbor."

"Just when things were looking up…the Hellmouth turns on me…" the Watcher deadpanned and then broke a smile, "Good enough, lad. And it's good to have you back."

The Scoobies headed home, while Giles, Jenny, Lara, Xander and the three Taskers headed to the duplex. Faith/Dana had made very clear to her parents that Lara was the reason she was still alive or at least not huddling in some alley—so at least one transition was cleared before Slayer revelations later took place. The Taskers and Xander headed into one place, the young man planning to play host while the family talked things over.

He'd already had a good idea of what they place looked like, but was happy to find everything set up already, and the place stocked according to plan. It even had the full bar Xander had bribed Gibb into taking care of. He poured Helen a wine, Harry a stout, and Dana a cranberry juice while coffee began to brew. As the small family talked, Alexander proceeded to whip up some omelets and some fried potatoes, glad he'd had the sense to order the place pre-stocked instead of doing it himself.

After about twenty minutes, as some tense words were beginning to be exchanges, Xander called out to have them all come to the breakfast counter to eat.

"Come on, guys. Eat and relax. Even if something isn't what you want to hear… at least remember that the three of you are together to disagree about it. Dana, I don't know if these are still favorites…but breakfast is served."

The girl smiled broadly as she saw the plate of food set in front of her and that more was in the kitchen.

"Damn, s—Xander, this is like a six-egg omelet!"

"And a pound of potatoes on your plate. You forget, I know how much Slayers need to eat. The rest of us are not so blessed and must actually exercise to burn it off." Harry's concerned frowned of a minute ago turned into a smile as he watched his little girl smile around a heaping fork of food. Helen sipped at her coffee, then dug in as well. Dana wanted to know a few things, however.

"So, tell me, the dance and the food…what's the story… Dad? Xander?" Xander indicated with a small wave that Harry should tell.

"Well, you remember how I told you about us coming to Sunnydale, then Alex coming to train with us? Well, it turns out that if we're together for longer than a day or so, our minds seem to share knowledge, memories of knowledge. Our skills seem to update, and we can sometimes…communicate…"

"So if you and mom get friendly, then Xan—"

"No!" the two men choked out, then with something of a blush Harry continued.

"Thankfully, only our abilities and such are affected…not the… sensory stuff."

"Huh?"

Xander broke in, "I might know how to shoot guns or dance a tango, but I won't have the memories of touch or sight or smell or doing them. At least not since Halloween."

"So how does that work? I'm thinkin' that the senses are important."

"They are, but…we have to practice the new stuff for it to really stick. And once we've done it, that experience seems to fill in the ones that didn't have it."

"So Dad doesn't know about your vamp-dusting tonight?"

"Well, we're still trying out different ways, but usually if we want to update those kinds of things, we have to debrief, discuss it, and he'll get the visuals but not the thoughts. I still have to explain them."

"That's weird, why's that?"

"Chaos magic…so it isn't prefect."

"So when you check out a girl, Dad doesn't get an eyeful?"

"Dana…" her mom and dad sighed; their little girl had a few edges on her now. Xander snickered.

"I suppose if I'm talking about it and doing more than glancing, he might get the memory."

"But guns and spy stuff no prob?"

"Well, basically…those things require focus…or thought…so like the bosses brain guys think that since some things use different ways of storing stuff as memory, the ones that get transferred are the ones that are more than me walking down the street not really caring what's around me. Harry's not gonna remember my walk, though he might be able to tell if I'm lying about taking a walk."

Xander pushed more potatoes onto the Slayer's plate as the group settled in to finish food.

The next morning, Harry was up just after Xander; he'd thought-linked the younger man that they needed to talk when they had the chance. Over decently strong coffee, Xander sighed and began things.

"So…"

"What are your intentions with my daughter?"

"Huh?"

"I asked, what are your intentions with my daughter?"

"Um, I don't have any?"

"Normally the best answer. But what do you think of her?"

"Can you be more specific Harry? Are you purposely trying to get me to think about a relationship with your daughter?"

"Actually Alex, after talking to her, or rather, listening to the gaps in her story… she hasn't had a good time of it. I don't want her to hate boys. But I want her safe."

"What are you sayin' Dutch?"

"Since you of all men know I'll kill you if you hurt her…"

"Wrong approach…try again."

"You're the only one young I trust."

"I have forty years of your memories, Harry."

"But you're still you. Maybe a little more grown up than before," Harry corrected, then continued, "And with your parents…you might be able to relate better with whatever she's gone through."

"Harry…" Xander sighed. "I think with all of your memories, but having spotted her before realizing who she was…Hell, Harry I'm half in serious like with her already. So I'm not going to pursue her. I'm going to be her friend, and if someday she wants more… she can let me know and we'll start dating. But not a word of this to her or Helen…and no pressuring her towards me. It might just be best if she gets to know you guys again while learning the whole slay-business."

"I guess, Alex, but a father is supposed to do the best for his little girl…and this Slayer thing…"

"And if she were in the family business she'd be safer how?"

"Point, but there she'd have back up…be part of a team."

"Well…why don't you and Helen transfer out here and become part of her team?"

"Well…"

"You're getting on in years, Harry. You admitted it to me the other day. You're still sharp, so why not become her trainer; Helen still has time to be the mother of a teenaged girl, and the both of you can set up some kind of front business or something. Have Mr. Trilby make you the official Omega presence on the Hellmouth."

"Those are good ideas, Alex…and a good attempt at sidetracking me from our topic."

"Dana is the topic and priority; she needs her folks, and with the Slay-Team here, she stands the best chance of fulfilling her destiny and leading a life as normal as any Tasker can lead…"

Harry smiled, and poured a couple more cups of coffees.

"I suppose Alex," he agreed, neither man knowing that Dana was sitting on the staircase next to her mom listening to the two men. Both women smiled, and side-hugged each other, the girl letting herself revel in the warm embrace of her mamma.


	7. Chapter 7

_Going Dutch (7/7) Finale_ _Author: Tohonomike __Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owners...it will start off with the Joss/ME characters, and any other characters or real-life folks are clearly not mine. NO money is involved. Buffy? Nope. None are mine._

**December 14th, 1997 – SHS Library**

Exams and the semester were over for Alexander, and it felt pretty good. Two solid months of training, adjusting to life in Sunnydale again, and learning the basics of the library trade from Giles had given him a full schedule. But he really enjoyed how the Taskers came together again, and how they'd included Lara Croft in their group.

Spence Trilby had flown in himself to talk to Alexander, who'd been seen publicly drinking tea and coffee with her, and had given him a new assignment: stick with Lara Croft like glue; she seemed to attract big-time trouble, and Omega seemed to often find itself dealing with issues stirred up in her wake. Xander had asked for more info, and what he was supposed to look for, intel wise, and Trilby just said 'if something big goes down, I just want the locations and such. I want a heads-up to move my people into place before things get too far out of hand.'

And Xander's budget would be his share of incurred expenses, and his salary.

The Slayer stuff had turned into one big training program, Amy Madison brought into the group to join Ms. Calendar and Willow to form a witch's triad. The Slayers, Angel and Harry trained similarly in spite of Buffy's initial aversion to guns, but when Helen talked to Joyce about keeping the girls safe by keeping the vampires dusty at a distance, Buffy had been mom-directed to master firearms. Just don't keep them loaded in the house.

Giles, Lara and, to Xander's pleasant surprise, himself, reorganized and secured the research materials and finally input them for quick keyword searches on the computer to narrow down initial research venues. And with Harry's years of Ops service, he was able to draw in Helen, Oz and Joyce as the logistical support component.

There were a few loose ends developing in the group; Angel had been contacted by an agent of the Powers that LA was his next assignment, and he should be heading there soon.

As for the other two, he was with Lady Croft.

"So Alex, any plans for the holiday?"

"I thought I'd admire you for as long as you're willing to put up with me."

"You really are a cheeky devil aren't you?"

"Hmm, let me think…yeah."

"So if I decided to run off to Nepal or Botswana now that Dana's doing fine, you plan to follow me?"

"I can't think of anything better, unless you have an equally-beautiful cousin you want to share me with in naughty ways." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and mockingly.

She laughed and shook her head again.

"And if I stay away longer than winter break?"

"Would you like me to stay with you?"

"I might."

Xander exhaled sharply. He looked over at her, and after a moment she directly met his stare but gave nothing away.

"You're beautiful, smart and amazing, Lara—and I have the ability to follow you everywhere. If you're just joking…please stop."

"Why, Alex? Are you getting too close to our job? Bit of a crush?"

"I think I'm way past crush, Lara."

"You're only eighteen."

"Eighteen, with the extra forty-seven years of experience in my head that's mine, remember? I may not have given you the details, but right now I don't know if I'm the most mature kid my age pining after the unattainable, or the older man falling for the ultimate partner and trophy wife rolled into one…a man that has the experience WITH the stamina and recovery of the younger man."

Lara laughed, but not harshly.

"What are your employers going to think if they find out?"

"Why should they care?"

"Your job is to keep tabs on me, isn't it?"

Xander smiled, "Getting paid to be with you? That IS the dream job."

"What about Dana?"

"I remember putting together her first swing set. And I remember meeting her in the alley with you. And while we've become good friends…I don't know if it can progress beyond that."

"I think she likes you, though."

"I know, but it's just too weird for me. And after all the grief I gave Dead Bob and Buffy about age difference…I can't move on it."

"What if she does?"

"I don't know. But I think we're talking about me following you to the ends of the earth."

"We were also discussing more than that."

"I don't' know how much we can tell each other right now."

"How about … admitting you're ordered to keep tabs on me and get close to me. Why?"

"Hmm…Let me answer the last part first. Because the group I'm with cleans up a lot of the problems that seem to blow up in your wake. They haven't actually asked me to root out any secrets…tough I think they'd like a travel itinerary for efficiency's sake."

"Can you tell me who?"

"No, but to answer the first part, I'm to stick to you like glue in order to keep them informed of where they might need to mobilize."

"Nothing else?"

"I have no orders to that effect."

"Would you take them?"

"I don't know. If we were in a relationship, letting them know where I am and when would be a matter of course. But beyond that…probably not. Just don't operate illegally within American territoriality. At least not breaking Federal laws. Speed all you want."

The British woman smiled, and placed her hand over his on the table.

"This is all so weird, Alex."

"Tell me about it…"

"What will people say when they hear I might be seeing an eighteen-year-old?"

Xander reached into his jacket pocket and tossed three billfolds on the table. He missed the warmth when she moved her hand from atop his to look at them.

"Alexander Tasker, age 25, of Sunnydale Import and Export; Harry Lavelle LeHane of Ojai, California, aged 22, grad student; Captain John Alexander Deutsch, age 27. Impressive, Alex. And I'm gathering from the high school chums, Alex is your real name?"

"Yeah, but you were worried about age, Lara. That can be papered over. The question is?"

"Are you coming with me when I leave? If you tell your bosses I know what you've told me, I don't have a problem with it."

"Wow," the young man smiled widely, showing his younger side and delighting the woman, "I can now ask you out without feeling the whole guilt thing."

"But not until you make the call."

"I know, but I'm happy already."

"No, but soon you might be."

'Brain. Come on, brain. Ah man…brain broken…bad brain. Make the call, brain, or it won't happen.' Xander's hand started to pocket the billfolds so that he could make an important cell phone call.


End file.
